


Trial and Transfiguration

by Anonymous



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Banter, Female Friendship, Female-Centric, Friendship, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-24 14:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12014970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A classic Hogwarts AU. Bringing OB into the wizarding world means I can't not write a Triwizard Tournament, but the tasks are original and accompanied by intrigue.There will be more dialogue than Quidditch, more brain than brawn and more witchcraft than wizardry.The first chapter is a short preview to give you an idea of the style.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At the time of posting the first chapter/preview I have a draft of the first proper chapter as well and a plan for the main plot lines, but I'm holding back a little to see if there is feedback.  
> I probably won't add or remove characters, but ideally I would adjust the details based on a dialogue with any readers, so please get in touch if what I'm doing is your thing! Early birds especially have a chance to shape events/relationships before things solidify. Points concerning language/continuity/canon are also helpful.  
> This for me is a practice in writing and I chose the Hogwarts setting because I know it pretty well and I wanted to focus on characters rather than world-building. It conveniently brings everyone to the same place. Also, magic is fun!  
> I can't for the life of me write smut and I'd feel a bit weird about doing so with teenage characters, hence the T rating, but that still leaves room for... well, I won't spoil, but you can probably guess :) Again, give me your ideas if you're in!
> 
> You can reach me here or on Tumblr: underthoserafters.

The compartment door opened with a crash, admitting a flustered young witch in dishevelled school robes and dreadlocked hair threatening to come loose from its tie.

“About time!” Felix exclaimed in mock anger, which quickly turned into a smile. He stood up and caught her in a brief, tight hug.

“Damn, I had a Galleon on you missin’ the Express again,” Sarah said from behind him.

Cosima laughed, straightening her glasses. “I almost did. Speaking of bets, what were the odds of you coming back?”  
She dropped into the empty seat next to Sarah as Felix reclaimed his spot by the window across from them.

“Better N.E.W.T.s than Azkaban, eh?” the other girl replied.

“Oh don’t be dramatic, they don’t send you there for scamming a few muggles,” Felix said, poking his sister lightly on the leg with his shoe. “Although it’s supposed to be far less terrifying now that it’s not guarded by bloody demon ghosts anymore.”

“Five-star hotel these days, I’m sure,” Sarah retorted.

“Well I’m glad you’re here instead. Hey, this means you have classes with us!” Cosima realised. “Which ones – “  
She was interrupted by a screech from the luggage rack above them.

“What the hell?” She looked up and saw a towel-covered cage. Sarah laughed and stood on her seat to lift it down.

“Say hello to Beaky,” she said as she lifted the towel. A small owl blinked sleepily at Cosima. Its feathers seemed permanently ruffled and quite a few were missing. A string of plastic beads in neon colours was strung around its neck.

“It looks like it survived both Wizarding Wars. Where did you find it?”

“Sarah got him cheap off some bloke on Knockturn. I swear he has fleas,” Felix grumbled.

“Oi, don’t be mean – bet you had fleas when mum and dad took us,” Sarah retorted. She turned to Cosima: “Kira said she wanted to write now that she knows how.”  
“Thought your parents didn’t like magic mail?”

“Or magic anything, but Kira had already named him and made him the necklace when they found out.”

“Can’t bear to see their baby girl cry,” Felix explained, then added: “You always sound so much more American after holidays, you know that?”

“Can’t imagine why,” Cosima laughed. She was often asked why she was not at Ilvermorny. Tired of the question, she usually replied with a sarcastic “administrational error”, but the truth was simply that when the Hogwarts letter arrived on her 11th birthday, her English mother had been overjoyed at the prospect of her daughter attending a ‘more established’ institution.

“Welcome to the misfit gang, Beaky,” Cosima told the owl as she stroked its head with a finger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end for notes!

The trio split off toward their respective tables when they entered the Great Hall. Mixing of Houses was allowed at mealtimes to prevent excessive rivalry, but the Sorting Ceremony was still a House event. As usual, it took a long time for the students to find their seats in the commotion, distracted as they were by their reunion.

“If I may have your attention…” There was a brief scramble as those still standing sat down, and then a respectful, expectant silence. A small huddle of first years stood at the back of the Hall by the entrance, shifting uncertainly. One girl was staring at the enchanted ceiling, mouth comically agape.

“A warm welcome to you all, new and old. I am Professor Susan Duncan, Headmistress here at Hogwarts. I hope you are looking forward to this year as much as I am. Don't worry - I won’t bore you with a speech, but there is one thing I should tell you before we begin the Sorting. With the risk of becoming the target of some well-aimed bludgers, it is with sincere regret that I announce that there will be no Quidditch this year.”

A collective murmur of dismay rose from the students, accompanied by an angry boo from the Gryffindor table; Sarah had been practising all summer to fill a Chaser vacancy left by a graduated seventh year.

“I know, and I am sorry. But perhaps the reason will be of some consolation: Hogwarts is to be the proud host of the first Triwizard Tournament in 23 years.”

The mood in the Hall quickly changed from disappointed to excited.

“On the night of the 30th of October,” the Headmistress continued, “we will gather here again for a feast together with delegations from Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I of course expect you all to be on your very best behaviour. Now then, if you would help me give a big cheer for our new first years!”

The students erupted into applause, cheering louder than usual, as their youngest members filed down the middle passage to stand in front of the Hat on its podium. The Sorting did not take long. Hufflepuff received the largest number of new recruits, a cause for boisterous celebration at the yellow-draped table.

Cosima watched from across the Hall in amusement as Felix threw his House scarf into the air. It flew into a chandelier and promptly caught fire. There was a flurry of wands pulled out of robes and the blazing mark of victory was soon safely extinguished amid raucous laughter.

“Numbers aren’t everything,” Cosima said, nudging the first year next to her. The brown-haired girl had introduced herself as Charlotte, one of only two new Ravenclaws. She smiled as Cosima winked at her.

“I suggest we eat before Mr. Dawkins finds another scarf,” announced Professor Duncan.

 

* * *

 

“You disappointed?” Cosima asked when she and Sarah found each other in a corridor after the Sorting.

“About what?”

“Quidditch”

“Oh, nah it’s alright. I checked with Morrison an’ he says they’re still doing try-outs and a friendly game against Hufflepuff in November. But hey, Triwizard Tournament!”

“Yeah, it’ll be great. It’s weird though – I’m pretty sure they agreed a few years back that Beauxbatons would host the next one.”

“Really? Well, I’m glad it’s here again.”

“Mm, me too.”

“There you are!” Felix said, joining them. “I thought we said by the doors?”

“Sorry, it was just so crowded,” Cosima answered.

There was a hiss by their feet. A slender, white cat glared up at them as it passed, plume tail swishing in annoyance.

“Ugh, fuck off,” Sarah told it, “nobody missed you.”

“Come on Ferdinand, they’re not worth the time.” The witch walked past without looking at them, followed by seven nervous first years.

“Hello to you too, Rachel,” Felix called after her cheerfully.

“I feel at home already,” Cosima mused.

“So? You’re not going to put your names in, are you?” Felix asked the girls.

“In the Goblet of Fire?” Cosima asked with a raised eyebrow. “No, I choose life. Also, I’m not seventeen.”

“I’m doin’ it,” Sarah said. “Is the prize still a thousand Galleons?”

“And eternal glory,” Cosima answered, twisting her face into an exaggeration of wide-eyed awe. The other two laughed.

“I’ll design a statue for the courtyard in your honour,” said Felix. “Would you like it to show you before the tasks or your mangled corpse after?”

“Morbid, Fe, but I agree. You are joking, Sarah?”

“C’mon – they have safety precautions,” Sarah replied.

“That’s what they said last time, and it wasn’t exactly what you’d call a success,” Cosima fired back.

“Times have changed,” said Sarah, but she sounded a little less certain.

 

* * *

 

The following morning Cosima was leafing through _The Essential_ _Defence Against the Dark Arts_ as she walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and collided with a seventh year in red Quidditch robes.

“Oh God, sorry Cal!”

“No worries,” he replied, Scottish accent rolling slightly on the r’s. “Coming tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” she promised.

“Good!” he said with a smile before turning and leaving the way Cosima had come.

She spotted Sarah and Felix at what had been the Gryffindor table the night before and joined them. Felix was adding the finishing touches to a cartoon owl, a cup of milky tea holding down the top of the parchment. The owl waved an inky wing and a speech bubble with the words “hello monkey xxx” popped up next to it.

“Cute!”

Cosima lowered herself onto the bench beside Felix and reached for a piece of toast.

“Thanks Cos,” he said, putting his quill down and rolling up the parchment. “We’re sending it with Beaky later.”

“What did Morrison want?” Sarah inquired.

“Nothing – I literally ran into him. Reminded me to watch the try-outs. Do you feel ready?”

“Honestly, I’m better prepared for that than first period. I barely made the O.W.L. for Transfig and that was over a year ago.”

“On the bright side,” said Felix, “look at all the free periods on our schedule!”

“Like they’re actually going to be free,” Cosima warned.

Felix pouted into his tea. “Alright, Professor Niehaus.”

 

* * *

 

“That wasn’t so bad,” Cosima stated when they were out of the classroom. “Knowing Westmorland, I was expecting a welcome-back essay.”

The Transfiguration professor had told them to practise non-verbal spells, the students waiting with bated breath for him to add another assignment.

“He’ll probably set us double homework next week to make up for it,” said Sarah, but she looked relieved.

“At least we’re _finally_ doing something useful. I mean, when will I ever see a pincushion and think: ‘shite, if only that was a hedgehog’?” Felix said, in reference to fourth year when he and Cosima had spent hours before exam week trying to keep the squirming animals still while they checked their spiny backs for stray pins.

“Do you think he made the next group turn them all back into cushions?” Cosima wondered as the three headed toward the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

“I don’ know,” Sarah answered, “we ate a lot of chicken that week.”

Felix gasped and hit her on the arm with a book. “Sarah! Why would you tell me that?!”

Most of their classmates were already in the classroom when they arrived.

“Oi-oi Professor S.!” Sarah called out to the steely-eyed woman standing by a heavy desk at the front.

“Back again, I see, Miss Manning,” she answered sternly, but there was a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth. It was common knowledge that the teacher had something of a soft spot for her, though most of the other staff had little patience for what they considered to be a troubling lack of respect. Sarah took Defence Against the Dark Arts more seriously than she did her other subjects, though. This was probably due to a combination of grudgingly liking Professor Sadler and finding the lessons worth learning.

N.E.W.T. classes with the professor turned out to be very similar to previous years. She had a practical, straightforward approach and believed that writing was only minimally necessary for learning Defence. This was reflected in her classroom; the only desk was her own at the front, leaving the long, rectangular space free for practising spells and setting up various challenges. Large windows let in light along one wall, and on the opposite side were hung diagrams explaining wand technique and the effective responses to different threats. The skeleton of a dragon was suspended from the high ceiling, its gaping jaws pointed toward the double-door entrance.

Professor Sadler divided the students into pairs after giving a brief overview of the planned curriculum for the year.

“I know that some of you were already introduced to non-verbal spells in Professor Westmorland’s class this morning, but pay attention. Being able to perform spells silently will be an important part of your N.E.W.T. exams, particularly for Defence. If you're yelling out your moves in a duel against an experienced witch or wizard, I can guarantee you will lose.”

They spent the lesson practising silent disarming.

“Fe, I can see your lips moving!” Cosima laughed, as her wand flew out of her hand.

“Whatever works!” Felix replied, triumphantly catching the wand and throwing it back to her. She aimed it him, focusing intently on the word “ _Expelliarmus_ ”. She managed to produce a few red sparks and Felix’s wand wobbled slightly in his hand.

“Ooh, scary,” he teased.

A few pairs over, Sarah was pointing her wand at a worried-looking Gryffindor boy, her brows furrowed in concentration.

Cosima took a few steps toward Felix and murmured: “Watch this.”

They giggled as Sarah’s wand half-heartedly flopped out of her hand onto the floor.

“Improving!” Felix said.

Sarah looked at her partner in confusion before glancing over and spotting the poorly faked innocence on the real culprits’ faces. Suddenly Cosima felt a tug at her fingers and watched her wand arc through the air and land gracefully in Sarah’s left hand.

"Ha!" she cried out, raising the captured wand high in victory.

“Well done!” Professor Sadler called out in approval from the other end of the classroom. “Though I don’t remember pairing you with Miss Niehaus. Now practice that ‘til you can do it in your sleep. With your _assigned_ partner.”

By the end of class, most of the students had achieved something like Cosima’s wand-flop and Sarah had managed another full disarming. Before letting them go, Professor Sadler told them that she expected each of them to produce three common spells non-verbally at the start of next week’s lesson.

“Damn, Sarah. You’re coaching us this week, okay?” Cosima said when they left.

“I’ve actually practised it a bit on my own – seemed like a good thing to know,” Sarah admitted.

“Even better,” Cosima replied.

“Now what?” Felix asked. They had the rest of the day free.

“Lake?” suggested Cosima and the others agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you are! First real chapter. I'm aiming for the rest of them to be about this length.  
> Now I'm off to read up on how Quidditch works so I can write those try-outs ;)
> 
> Again, comments on everything are more than welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

That evening, Felix and Cosima walked down to the Quidditch pitch together. Sarah had left earlier to warm up. Small groups of Gryffindors and a handful of students from the other Houses sat on the grass along the edges of the pitch, chatting as they waited.

Cosima spread out a small quilt on a free patch of grass and fished a thermos out of her bag. She turned to Felix.

“Tea?”

“Yes please!”

Cosima poured them a mug each.

“Don’t tell Sarah, but Quidditch this year is going to be lame compared to the Tournament,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Felix laughed, “my lips are sealed. And I agree.”

A line of people in red and gold robes emerged from a changing room then, carrying broomsticks. They gathered in the middle of the pitch. Sarah gave a quick wave when she spotted the other two.

“Welcome all to the Gryffindor Quidditch trials!” Cal brought up the rear of the group, pulling a wooden crate on wheels.

“Today we hope to find two new players to join us – a Beater and a Chaser. May the best candidates succeed!”

The first test was simple: a series of aerial manoeuvres to weed out the completely unqualified, which turned out to be around half of the hopefuls. One second year even fell off his broom.

Sarah managed to score three goals against the team Keeper in the next phase, putting her in joint lead with a fifth year wizard, as Cosima and Felix cheered her on loudly.

“Thank Merlin he started with the Chasers so we can leave before the bludgers are let out,” Felix commented, eyeing Cal’s wooden crate warily.

“Yeah, I have no idea why they’re still a thing,” agreed Cosima. “Seems kinda barbaric. I mean, they aren’t necessary to the game at all.”

Despite their personal opinions on Quidditch, when Cal announced that Sarah had beat the other candidates to become the new Gryffindor Chaser, Cosima and Felix were just as enthusiastic in their celebration as she was.

“This calls for butterbeer!” Felix proclaimed, pulling the girls into a group hug.

“And how do you propose sneaking us into Hogsmeade?” Cosima asked.

“No need,” Felix replied in a conspiring tone as they left the pitch.

It turned out Felix had a hide-away for smuggled goods behind the greenhouse, which promised a pleasant evening and a fun school year.

 

* * *

 

The following day they ate a late breakfast since they had no class to attend that morning.

“What’s the plan, then?” Felix asked, heaping scrambled eggs on to his plate. They had decided to take some of the free time to practise non-verbal spells, unanimously agreeing that the homework was not boring enough to procrastinate until the night before it was due.

“We find an empty classroom, I guess,” Cosima replied over a cup of coffee. “Maybe Professor S.’s if it’s free.”

“I have a better idea,” said Sarah, leaning in toward Cosima and lowering her voice. “I’ll show you when we’re outside.”

“Okay, so it’ll be forbidden, dangerous or both,” Cosima grinned. “The Forest?”

“We couldn’t, I don’t know, wait a week before getting detention for once?” mumbled Felix with raised eyebrows, but the others knew he was on board.

When they had eaten, Sarah ushered them into a deserted corner of the Entrance Hall. She looked around to make sure they weren’t being watched, before pulling a folded piece of parchment out of her robes.

“No way! Is that…?” Cosima asked incredulously.

“Nah,” replied Sarah, “but it’s a damn good copy.”

She tapped the empty parchment with her wand while solemnly swearing that she was up to no good. Lines and dots spread across the sheet, revealing a living map of the castle and its inhabitants.

“I can think of so many brilliant uses for it, but Sarah won’t let me touch it,” Felix sulked.

“You already know too much about what goes on here,” Sarah retorted.

Cosima watched spell-bound as familiar names climbed staircases, sat in rows in classrooms and stopped to talk to each other in hallways.

“You can stare later, Cos. Can’t risk someone seein’ this,” said Sarah. “I’ve already decided where we’re going.”

She pointed at a small rectangle on the 3rd floor labelled simply “Another Room”.

“Yeah, I definitely wanna see what that is too,” Cosima agreed.

“Another Room it is,” said Felix, taking the lead.

As they rounded a corner they heard voices, and Sarah hastily wiped the map and hid it.

“5 points from Slytherin - no running indoors! And you, write your mother and tell her to send you school robes with the proper measurements. You would do well to remember that you represent this House; not merely yourselves.”

Two Slytherin second years passed the trio with their heads bowed. Rachel followed more slowly, adopting an expression of forced indifference when she saw the three, chin lifting slightly.

“And here I thought her kind of Slytherin was a thing of the past,” Cosima remarked when she had gone.

“God, it still boggles my mind that someone made her a Prefect,” Felix said. “Thinks she can do anything she likes ‘cause her mum’s Top Witch.”

Sarah laughed. “She’ll have a fit when they tell her the Headmistress job isn’t hereditary.”

Rachel and Sarah had been arch-enemies since their first year at Hogwarts, though they had started as friends (a fact both witches vehemently denied). They would have been in the same year now, their seventh, had it not been for Sarah’s recent “sabbatical”.

The three friends entered a series of notoriously mischievous hallways, generally avoided by students due to their habit of suddenly changing directions or turning into dead ends. Sarah took the lead, map in hand, as they navigated the impulsive architecture. A few minutes in they found themselves in a loop of left turns, running in a circle until discovering a brass candle fixture that could be pulled to access a hidden right turn. Anticipating more trouble, they tentatively pressed on, but the map proved useful in avoiding the worst traps and soon they were standing in front of a dead end upon which hung a painting.

“On the other side of this wall, then?” Cosima asked, and Sarah nodded.

The painting was the only decoration they had seen in the hallways aside from the candle fixture. It depicted a mossy clearing surrounded by dark pine trees. In the middle of the clearing lay a dragon, curled up and snoring faintly.

“Now what?” asked Felix, waving his wand in a questioning motion. A couple of sparks flew from the end.

“ _Draco dormiens numquam titillandus._ ” Cosima replied with a pleased smile.

“Bless you,” Felix said, but Sarah lit up.

“Nice!”

Felix looked at the two with a look of tired exasperation. “Can I be part of the loop, or is it invitation only?”

“Never tickle a sleeping dragon – it’s the school motto,” Cosima explained and scratched the dragon’s belly lightly with one finger. It let out a quiet giggle and squirmed, one eye opening to reveal a bright purple iris. The wall swung inward like a door and warm light flooded the hallway.

“Another Room” turned out to be a small private library, with bookshelves lining all four walls. A corner fireplace supplied light, along with candles in holders on the shelves. Facing the fireplace were a couch and some chairs.

“Hey, this is cozy!” Sarah exclaimed, dropping into the couch. Felix claimed a chair.

“Think it belongs to one of the professors?” he asked.

“Whoever they are, I want to meet them,” Cosima replied. She was browsing the bookshelves, running a hand along the spines of the books as she read their titles. “He or she is clearly into the science of magic.”

_Magical Concealment: a New Approach_ read one leather-bound cover, standing next to a set of five brick-sized volumes called, presumably ironically, _A Brief Introduction to Alchemical Methods._

“Damn, I think some of these might be original manuscripts too!”

She carefully pulled out a yellowed book titled _The Limits of Transfiguration_ and leafed through it gingerly before putting it back.

“We’ve found one of her turn-ons,” Felix remarked to Sarah, who had spread out on the couch with her feet up on the armrest.

“You want to be alone with the books?” Sarah joined in the teasing.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” came the answer. Cosima made a slow humping motion against the shelf and pulled a finger slowly down the spine of _Experiments in the Manifestation of Magical Ability._

“A’right, well let us know when you’re done so we can practise spells, yeah?” said Sarah, rising from the couch and walking to another one of the shelves. It contained an assortment of decorative items as well as books.

“Ooh, look at this freak of nature!” she exclaimed, lifting a taxidermy weasel with a pair of what looked like a crow’s wings sewn onto its back. Whoever had stuffed it was not very good at it, resulting in the poor thing’s eyes sitting too close together and its teeth bared in a hideous grimace.

Cosima in turn discovered a small potted plant that looked like a fern, the tentacle-like leaves of which wrapped softly around her fingers when she reached out to feel them.

They spent the entire day in the library behind the painting of the ticklish dragon, leaving it only to eat. They used books as props for silent levitating charms (Cosima having of course picked out less sensitive works for the purpose) and chatted by the fire between sessions.

Later, as they parted to go to their respective dormitories, they happily agreed to return to the “Sleepy Dragon” the following day. They had found a common room of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Another one!
> 
> I love writing this, though I can't promise updates on a schedule, as I want to take the little time I have for it to make it as good as I can. My hope is that you appreciate my effort on the details :* If my pace is frustrating, you can always bookmark for when there is more to read ;) 
> 
> I love hearing from you, so do give me your thoughts - positive as well as critical!


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